Commitment

June 26, 2007

It has been perfectly appropriate for me in the last years to continue to accept all kinds of other work while developing art healthcare work on the side.

But now, I am getting a sense of what is needed to help the new direction get off the ground. If I would have taken on two recent requests to paint old instrument songboards, my energy would have been mostly occupied for 5 -6 months. Those months would have been lost ones as far as building a foundation for the new work.

There comes a stage where keeping on with what one has done before (for the income, for the work, etc) feels like leaving a back door open just in case the new way doesn’t work out. I feel like I just passed that stage.

I think of someone who is on the brink of giving up her day job to start her own business. She doesn’t know if it will work, but she senses that to stay on would be detrimental to her growth. Then her boss offers her a raise and a promotion.

Does she stay on for a little longer (to gather a good financial buffer for her leap), or does she choose to leave and take her chances?

There is a time for leaping and a time for taking small, managable steps. The degree of risk and the timing will be different for everyone.